[AnswerKey] UPSC Prelims-2020: Polity & International Relations (IR) MCQs Solved with Explanation along with Faaltu-ki Controversies over debatable MCQs

1. Polity in UPSC Prelims-2020 Compared to previous papers
2. Polity Strategy / Roadmap for UPSC Prelims & Mains 2021
   1. Polity: Theory- How to prepare
   2. Polity Contemporary Issues (2 Years & older)
   3. Polity Current Affairs (last 1 year, D-1)
   4. Polity for Mains-2021 General Studies Paper-2 (GSM2)
3. UPSC IAS/IPS Prelims-2019 Answerkey: Polity & IR
   1. Polity: Preamble, FR, FD related MCQs in Prelims-2020
   2. DPSP related MCQs in Prelims-2020
   3. Amendment to the Constitution related MCQs in Prelims-2020
   4. Parliament / Legislature related MCQs
   5. Polity: Contemporary Issues related MCQs in Prelims-2020
   6. Polity: Abstract / Political Science Type MCQs
4. International relations  (IR) in Prelims-2020
   1. IR Strategy for UPSC Prelims & Mains 2021
   2. IR/Defense (3 MCQs)
5. Answerkey Assistance provided by Mudit Gupta

Polity in UPSC Prelims-2020 Compared to previous papers

Polity MCQs in 2019 and before	Polity MCQs in 2020’s Prelim GS Paper
2018: asked multi-statement MCQ about Aadhaar Card	– 2020 again asked about Aadhaar Card
Some questions are outside the routine Constitution 1. 2017: What does the NGO ‘Rashtriya Garima Abhiyaan’ do? 2. 2020: objective of land reforms	– Thankfully, no such random lunacy. Yes they ask tough questions from NALSA And RPA , but at least the ‘heading’ of those topics is known to all serious aspirant
Trend of asking at least two questions, abstract/political science type e.g. 2017: what are the superior virtues of democracy. 2017: What are the implications of inequality 2018: Which one of the following reflects the nicest, appropriate relationship between law and liberty? 2018: Which of the following are regarded as the main features of the “Rule of Law” 2018: relationship between laws and liberty 2019: meaning of liberty	Trend continues with abstract/political science type questions from – primary objective of bureaucracy? – Meaning of Constitutional government? – Etc. Although, in all these years 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020- these question can be solved from NCERT-NIOS. So, it’s not like Political science Optional subject give send extra edge to those students. You should not opt for optional subject for 2020 with such short-sightedness or false-marketing.
– 2018: International Labour Organization’s Conventions 138 and 182 related to _ _ _.	– Asked about human rights Convention & Indian Constitution
– 2013: asked about NALSA (free legal aid)	– 2020: again asked
– 2017: Good number of questions from Preamble to DPSP block	– Again scene similar to 2017 is repeating
– Each year, a few questions from the Parliament and President. (However, 2019, had been a unique year as very less number of questions from this part)	– Prem Continued
– In some years they have a very tough questions from Lok Sabha rulebook, state legislature rulebook, which are not available in the routine preparation sources (2018, 2019).	– Thankfully that lunacy not repeated.
– Every year, at least one or two questions will be debatable subject to multiple interpretations and multiple answers – (2017) right to vote – (2019) will state legislatures follow the rules of Lok Sabha?	– Similar scene, with a few MCQs where private coaching institutes’ answerkeys are not unanimous.
– 2017: For election to the Lok Sabha, a nomination paper can be filed by _ _ _ . – 2019: office of profit and disqualification	– 2020: minister eligibility & RPA asked.
– 2019: judicial review and 44th Amendment	– 2020: basic structure of Constitution and judicial review
– 2018 Congress tried to get the then CJI Dipak Misra impeached. 2019-Prelims UPSC asks about impeachment of Judges!	– Did not ask about any negative-news questions (unless you count the representation of People’s act)

• Overall nature of the polity questions= Majority of them are factual-theory based questions whereas some of them require analysis and 50-50 elimination strategy. But nothing extraordinary “trend-breaker” under the sun. पुराने 5 साल के पेपर उठाकर देख लो यही तमाशा चल रहा था. इसमें कुछ नया या आश्चर्यजनक नहीं है.
• For the sake of getting page views. Some people are creating excessive amount controversy about some debatable question, whereas even that is not new under the sun. Because every year, one or two questions are of ‘debatable’ nature.

Polity Strategy / Roadmap for UPSC Prelims & Mains 2021

[accordion] [accordion_item title=”Click me to Expand”]

Polity: Theory- How to prepare

1. Indian Polity by M.Laxmikanth | हिंदी में भी उपलब्ध But this is ‘minimum system requirement’, know that it doesn’t give you any edge over others because everyone is mugging up the same book. Do parallel study of chapters: President vs Governor, SC vs HC, PM vs CM. Do solve the past papers given at the end of his book.
2. (When it’s published) India Yearbook 2021 by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Focus on chapter 2 (Symbols), 3 (Polity), 20 (Law and Justice), 28 (Welfare). Yearbook is important because in earlier prelims, some of the factoids were asked from here, and not given in Laxmikanth’s book. e.g. Civil service day celebrated on _ _ , Cabinet Secretary is the boss of _ _ _ Committee, Satyamev Jayate phrase is copied from _ _ _ Upanishad, NALSA’s function includes _ _ _. Don’t waste money in buying India Yearbook 2021 at this stage. Better to wait till 2021 comes out.
3. IF time left, then selective study of NCERT Textbooks, even NIOS Political Science PDF | हिंदी में भी उपलब्ध | ગુજરાતીમાં પણ ઉપલબ્ધ.
1. I’ve used the word “IF time left”, because these textbooks have lot of bolbachchan and overlapping with what you already prepared from Laxmikanth and IYB.
2. The additional general / abstract / political science type of factoids to be gained- they’re spread few and far in between the chapters of these textbooks.
3. And even after mastering them, the ‘edge’ you’ll get is 1-2 MCQs. So, you’ve to decide accordingly, how much time should be given.
4. No need to waste time over DD Basu, MV Pylee or SC Kashyap’s Our Parliament because hardly anything additional to gain in Prelims.
1. Laxmikanth’s book is basically a revision note prepared from above reference books.
2. If you try to become Harry Potter’s Half Blood Prince i.e. “I’ll extract the factoids from above books, and whichever of them are not given in Laxmikanth, I’ll write down those spells on margins of Laxmikanth’s book”- again poor cost:benefit. And in mains, the GSM2 is mostly contemporary / current based polity, so these theoretical / academic textbooks have little utility, yes they provide foundation and fodder points, but for that you’ll be better served by IGNOU MPS-003, Yojana, ARC Report et al. Because the Constitutional issues / crisis that above authors had raised- have been replaced by new set of issues under Modi raj.

Polity Contemporary Issues (2 Years & older)

• In the mains exam, polity gradually evolves in to many topics that are not just “rights issues”, but simultaneously, they are ‘post-independence Indian history” e.g. Tribals’ forest rights movement, or the quest for uniform civil code, the demand for linguistic states and so forth. For this, you may refer to IGNOU MPS-003: MPS-003 India Democracy and Development (Click for Free Download) and then you should link it with the current affairs.
• For Mains exam, another fork of Polity contemporary issues will evolve into “local governance, administration, civil society, pressure groups and so forth”. You’ll benefit more by selective reading the original reports of 2nd Administrative Reform Commission (ARC) | हिंदी में भी उपलब्ध.
• You may also prepare some foundation from selective study of Governance in India by M. Karthikeyan (Pearson). Kartikeyan’s book is more updated and comprehensive than Laxmikanth’s book on Governance in India.
• Government’s Yojana and Kurukshetra magazines are also useful- both for Prelims-MCQs (of economy, sustainable agriculture, right issues) as well as Mains-Descriptive questions. Read the original magazine to cultivate vocabulary and flowery language. Then go for PDF compilations for their bulleted version / mindmaps for faster revision on the exam night.
• ✋While Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) provides in-depth coverage on “rights issues” but cost benefit = very bad. Better alternative is to go for selective reading of (free) gist of EPQs available at (late) Shankar Sir’s IASParliament website.

Polity Current Affairs (last 1 year, D-1)

• For summary of latest bills / acts: PRSINDIA.org
• For landmark judgements by SC / HC, current happenings in the parliament, electoral reforms like simultaneously elections, law commissions’ sporadic recommendations and so forth. For these topics, go for Indianexpress. or theHindu but don’t lose sleep if you can’t get theHindu because IndianExpress works just fine- you’ll see in this answerkey, how pretty much all current MCQs could be solved from IndianExpress only.
• And whatever PDF compilation / Magazine that fills your fantasy.
• It’s a waste of time to make full fledged notes / compilation from newspaper yourself- no need to reinvent the wheel when others are doing it. Of Course these Magazines/PDF-walla are doing it with less perfectionism than you, but the amount of marks you’ll gain from such manual exercise will be negligible compared to the marks lost because you had become too tired to study theory topics because of your current-affairs-Half-Blood-Prince-diary-making hobby.
• While It’s also true that UPSC examiner is avoiding direct questions from such PDF-compilations, but that doesn’t put you at disadvantage because everyone else is in the same boat.
• ✋ Don’t prepare polity in Isolation e.g. “Theory NOW, Current after I’m clear Prelims”, “Objective NOW, Descriptive Later” Because UPSC has bad habit of asking 2-5 year old things in GSMains. Just because you fail in Prelims-2020, doesn’t mean entire years’ mains-oriented topics have become फूटे हुए कारतूस (spent ammunition) for the Mains-2021 and 2022.

[/accordion_item] [/accordion]

Polity for Mains-2021 General Studies Paper-2 (GSM2)

Topic wise mains papers along with the strategy for Mains = given in the separate article, click me

UPSC IAS/IPS Prelims-2019 Answerkey: Polity & IR

Anyways, enough of strategy, let’s now solve the Polity MCQs asked in Prelims-2020

Polity: Preamble, FR, FD related MCQs in Prelims-2020

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.26. The Preamble to the Constitution of India is

[a) A part of the Constitution but has no legal effect

[b) Not a part of the Constitution and has no legal effect either

[c) A part of the Constitution and has the same legal effect as any other part

[d) A part of the Constitution but has no legal effect independently of other parts

Difficulty : Easy ?

Type: Theory ?

Factual or Analytical: Analytical (Even though, the individual facts are given in the book but solving this question requires connection between those individual points and cannot be solved verbatim, per se)

Explanation:

case	judgement
A.K. Gopalan vs State of Madras (1950)	Supreme Court ruled that Preamble is not enforceable in a court of law.
Berubari Union (19600	Supreme Court ruled that Preamble is not a part of the Indian Constitution however, it helps in interpretation of the clauses of the Constitution.
Keshavananda Bharti vs State of Kerala (1973)	Supreme Court ruled that the Preamble is a part of the Indian Constitution.

• The combined effect of the 3 judgments has been that even though the Preamble is a part of the Constitution, but it is not enforceable in a court of law.

Source:

• LX: Chapter 4: Preamble of the Constitution. Sub-topics: Preamble as a Part of the Constitution (Page 4.5)

---

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.34. Which one of the following categories of Fundamental Rights incorporates protection against untouchability as a form of discrimination?

[a) Right against Exploitation

[b) Right to freedom

[c) Right to constitutional remedies

[d) Right to equality

Difficulty : Easy ?

Type: Theory ?

Factual or Analytical: Factual

Explanation:

Right Against Exploitation	Article 23: Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour Article 24: Prohibition of employment of children in factories, etc.
Right to Freedom	Article 19: Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech, etc. Article 20: Protection in respect of conviction for offences Article 21: Protection of life and personal liberty Article 21A: Right to education Article 22: Protection against arrest and detention in certain cases
Right to Constitutional Remedies	(Article 32)
Right to Equality	Article 14: Equality before law Article 15: Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth Article 16: Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment Article 17: Abolition of untouchability Article 18: Abolition of titles

Source:

• LX: Chapter 7: Fundamental Rights → Fundamental Rights at a Glance (Table 7.1, Page 7.3)

DPSP related MCQs in Prelims-2020

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.35. In India, separation of judiciary from the executive is enjoined by

[a) The Preamble of the Constitution

[b) A Directive Principle of state policy

[c) The Seventh schedule

[d) The conventional practice

Difficulty : Easy ?

Type: Theory ?

Factual or Analytical: Factual

Explanation:

• Not written in Preamble so A is wrong.
• 7^th Sch deals with separation of legislative powers between Union vs State so C is wrong.
• Article 36 to Article 51 of our Constitution deal with Directive Principles of the State Policy. Within that Article 50 deals prescribes Separation of judiciary from executive. So, B is right.

Source:

• LX: Chapter 8: Directive Principles of the State Policy → Sub-topics: Classification of Directive Principles (Page 8.2, 8.3)

---

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.38. Other than the Fundamental Rights, which of the following parts of the Constitution of India reflect/reflects the principles and provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)?

1. Preamble
2. Directive Principles of State Policy
3. Fundamental Duties

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

[a) 1 and 2 only

[b) 2 only

[c) 1 and 3 only

[d) 1, 2 and 3

Difficulty : Easy ? through word associations. Fundamental duties talk about protecting dignity of women, duty to educate children etc. #3 is right, & DPSP Definitely talks about many human rights so, Answer should be D.

Type: Theory ?

Factual or Analytical: Analytical (Even though, the Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is given in the NCERT, it needs to be understood comprehensively to attempt this question. Verbatim answer is not available in the NCERT)

Explanation:

• Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights mentions about dignity of an individual. Preamble of Indian Constitution speaks about “EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity” → #1 is correct.
• Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights mentions about the Right to Work. Similar concept in Article 41 of the Indian Constitution, under the head of DPSPs.
• Article 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights mentions about duties. A similar concept that was inserted in the Indian Constitution by the 42^nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976 under Part IV-A of the Constitution (Article 51A).

Source:

• Class XI NCERT: Political Theory : Chapter 5: Rights (Page 77)

---

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.22. Which part of the Constitution of India declares the ideal of Welfare state?

[a) Directive principles of state policy

[b) Fundamental rights

[c) Preamble

[d) Seventh schedule

Difficulty : Easy ?

Type: Theory ?

Factual or Analytical: Factual

Explanation:

• Directive principles of state policy are given in the Part IV of the Indian Constitution (Article 36 to 51).
• Article 38 mentioned about State to secure a social order for the promotion of welfare of the people.

Source:

• LX: Chapter 8: Directive Principles of the State Policy: Sub-topics – Features of the Directive Principles (Page 8.1)

---

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.28. With reference to the provisions contained in part IV of the constitution of India, which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. They shall be enforceable by courts
2. They shall not be enforceable by any court
3. The principles laid down in this part are to influence the making of laws by the state

Select the correct answer using the code given below

[a) 1 only

[b) 2 only

[c) 1 and 3 only

[d) 2 and 3 only

Difficulty : Easy ?

Type: Theory ?

Factual or Analytical: Factual

Explanation:

• Part-IV of the Indian Constitution deals with the Directive Principles of the State Policy (Article 36 to Article 51)
• Article 37: Provisions of Part-IV shall not be enforceable by any court (Hence, 2^nd statement is correct) We are ?50:50 between C or D.
• Article 37 of the Indian Constitution also states that it shall be the duty of the state to apply these principles in making laws as they are fundamental in the governance of the country. So, #3 is correct. So, by elimination, the answer is D.

Source:

• LX: Chapter 8: Directive Principles of State Policy: Sub-topics- Features of the Directive Principles (Page 8.1)

Amendment to the Constitution related MCQs in Prelims-2020

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.23. Consider the following statements:

1. The Constitution of India defines its ‘basic structure’ in terms of federalism, secularism, fundamental rights and democracy.
2. The Constitution of India provides for ‘judicial review’ to safeguard the ‘citizens’ liberties and to preserve the ideals on which the constitution is based.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

[a) 1 only

[b) 2 only

[c) Both 1 and 2

[d) Neither 1 nor 2

Difficulty : Medium ?

Type: Theory ?

Factual or Analytical: Analytical (Even though the facts are given in the book by M. Laxmikanth, they need to be analyzed and put together to reach a conclusion)

Explanation:

• Constitution of India does not define the term ‘basic structure’. It is a judicial tool that was invented by the Supreme Court of India in the Keshavananda Bharti vs State of Kerala (1973) landmark judgment.
• Even though, the Supreme Court invented the concept of Basic Structure in the aforementioned judgment, it did not define the same. However, it is only in the later judgments that the court has added various elements to the list of the basic structure of the Constitution. So, 1^st statement is incorrect. We are ?50:50 between B or D.
• While Article 13 of the Indian Constitution deals with the ‘CONCEPT’ of Judicial Review however, it does not explicitly mentions the term judicial review. But assuming that question is asking in general sense, the answer should be “B”: Only 2^nd statement correct.

Source:

• LX: Chapter 11: Basic Structure of the Constitution, Chapter 27: Judicial Review

Parliament / Legislature related MCQs

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.30. Consider the following statements:

1. The president of India can summon a session of Parliament at such place as he/she thinks fit.
2. The Constitution of India provides for three sessions of the Parliament in a year, but it is not mandatory to conduct all three sessions
3. There is no minimum number of days that the Parliament is required to meet in a year.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

[a) 1 only

[b) 2 only

[c) 1 and 3 only

[d) 2 and 3 only

Difficulty : Medium ?

Type: Theory ?

Factual or Analytical: Factual

Explanation:

• Article 85(1): President to summon each house of the Parliament at such time and place as he thinks fit. (Hence, 1^st statement is correct) We are ?50:50 between A or C. Now everything boils down to the validity of statement 3.

Statement#3 is right	Counter view: Statement#3 is wrong
If the UPSC interprets it in a narrow and literal sense, then exact number of days for which the Parliament is supposed to meet in a year is not mentioned in the Constitution hence, 3rd statement is correct.	If we interpret the question in a broader manner, then Article 85 of the Indian Constitution mentions that 6 months shall not intervene the 2 sessions of the Parliament. Interpreting this clause, it essentially means that Parliament has to meet at least for 2 days in a year to prevent the violation of Article 85. In such a scenario, 3rd statement is incorrect.
	Whenever UPSC examiner wants to make a statement correct. He will go for extreme worded statements, third statement contains extreme word “no minimum number of days”, and therefore it should be wrong as per Guessmastergiri Rule#1

Final judge: we have to wait for the official answer key of UPSC next year.

Source:

• LX: Chapter 22: Parliament: Sub-topics Sessions of the Parliament (Page 22.13)

---

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.32. Rajyasabha has equal powers with Loksabha in _ _ _ .

[a) The matter of creating new all India services

[b) Amending the Constitution

[c) The removal of the government

[d) Making cut motions

Difficulty : Easy ?

Type: Theory ?

Factual or Analytical: Factual

Explanation:

• Article 312: With regards to the creation of All India Services, Rajya Sabha has special powers such that if Rajya Sabha is passing a resolution by a majority of 2/3^rd of the members present and voting, Parliament may, by law, create one or more All India Services in national interest. → A is wrong.
• Article 75(3) hold the government collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. Hence, in this regards, Lok Sabha has greater power as compared to Rajya Sabha. → C is wrong.
• Cut Motions, which are meant to reduce the amount allocated to the ministries in the demand for grants, can be made only in Lok Sabha. Rajya Sabha can only make recommendations with regards to the cut motion. → D is wrong.
  Article 368 of the Indian Constitution, a bill to amend the Constitution can be introduced in either house of the Parliament and both the houses have equal powers in respect to the Constitutional Amendment Bill. → B is right.
• Source: LX: ch.22 Parliament Subtopics
  • Position of Rajya Sabha (Page 22.33, 22.34, 22.35)
  • Voting on Demand for Grants (Page 22.28)

Polity: Contemporary Issues related MCQs in Prelims-2020

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.29. consider the following statements:

1. According to the Constitution of India, a person who is eligible to vote can be made a minister in a state for six months even if he/she is not a member of that state.
2. According to the Representation of People Act,1951, a person convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to imprisonment for five years is permanently disqualified from contesting an election even after his release from prison.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

[a) 1 only

[b) 2 only

[c) Both 1 and 2

[d) Neither 1 nor 2

Difficulty : Tough ? because RPA Act is a topic for the Mains general studies paper2, so most of the candidates do not prepare its salient features in great detail for prelims.

Type: Theory ?

Factual or Analytical: Factual

Explanation: (why two answers possible)

• As per the Representation of People Act, 1951: if person jailed for not less than two years = shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to bedisqualified for a further period of six years since his release. There is no clause of “permanent disqualification”. It’s jailtime + 6 years after release. So, 2^nd statement is incorrect. We are ?50:50 between A or D.

Statement one is correct or not?

According to some experts, #1 is right because

• A citizen becomes eligible to vote upon attaining the age of 18.
• Whereas to become a member of the Vidhan Sabha, he must be minimum 25 years old.
• Article 164(4) of the Indian Constitution: A Minister who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of the Legislature of the State shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a Minister.
• So, accordingly, some experts interpret that even 18 or 19 year old person (Who is eligible to vote), can become minister for atleast 6 months. So#1 is right.

But, other experts differ, that “Since Constitution itself has not specifically said this, so statement#1 is wrong”, so answer is “D”.

• Final judge: we’ve to wait for the official answerkey of UPSC

Source:

• LX: Chapter 32: State Council of Ministers and Chapter 33: State Legislature

---

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.39. In India, Legal Services Authorities provide free legal services to which of the following type of citizens?

1. Person with an annual income of less than Rs. 1,00,000
2. Transgender with an annual income of less than Rs. 2,00,000
3. Member of Other Backward Classes (OBC) with an annual income of less than Rs. 3,00,000
4. All Senior Citizens

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

[a) 1 and 2 only

[b) 3 and 4 only

[c) 2 and 3 only

[d) 1 and 4 only

Difficulty : Tough ? because difficult to recall income-limit information in exam.

Type: Contemporary ? because NALSA was setup under an Act of 1987.

Source: partially solvable from Laxmikanth.

Explanation:

• Partially solvable from LX: Chapter 36: Subordinate Courts: Sub-topics- National Legal Services Authority (Page 36.3)
• NALSA covers Persons whose annual income does not exceed ₹ 1 lakh So, #1 is right. We are ?50:50 between A or D.
• However, there is no mention about the senior citizens. (Besides, billionaires like Ratan Tata or Azim Prem-ji may not be covered by it, due to Government’s fiscal constrains). So, #4 “ALL senior citizens eligible” seems wrong.
• Let’s check further: As per the official page of NALSA: senior citizens eligible depending on income. So, #4 wrong, so D wrong so by elimination, we are left with “A”.

? GuessMaster-Giri^TM: ?Partially Possible. If you believe in the rule#1 that extreme worded statements are always wrong → Then fourth statement should be wrong because they contain extreme words “All senior citizens”. So, by elimination we are ?50:50 between A or D.

---

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.31. Consider the following statements:

1. Aadhaar metadata cannot be stored for more than three months
2. State cannot enter into any contract with private corporations for sharing of Aadhar data
3. Aadhaar is mandatory for obtaining insurance products.
4. Aadhar is mandatory for getting benefits funded out of the Consolidate fund of India.

Which of the statements give above is/are correct?

[a) 1 and 4 only

[b) 2 and 4 only

[c) 3 only

[d) 1,2 and 3 only

Difficulty : Tough ?. Not easily available in the routine preparation sources

Type: Contemporary ?

Factual or Analytical: Factual

Explanation:

• As per the Aadhar Act, 2016, read together with the Supreme Court Judgment of 2018, the Aadhar Metadata can be stored for a maximum period of 6 months.#1 wrong, we are We are ?50:50 between B or C.
• In the 2018 judgment, Supreme Court held that Aadhar is not mandatory to purchase the insurance products however, it can be voluntarily used for KYC of the insurance products. Even IRDAI has made the similar rules. Hence, statement 3 is also incorrect.
• Also, the Supreme Court ruled that any welfare scheme, driving funds out of the Consolidated Fund of India, would require Aadhar to deliver the benefits to the intended beneficiaries. (Hence, 4^th Statement is correct)
• Ref: theHinduBusinessLine article published in 2019

? GuessMaster-Giri^TM: ?Partially Possible. If you believe in the

• Rule#1 that extreme worded statements are always wrong
• Rule#2 that Dates, Years & figures are always wrong in statement.
• Then first statement should be wrong because contains extreme words “can’t be stored for more than 3 months”.
• So, by elimination we are ?50:50 between B or C.
• Yes other statement #2, 3 and 4 also contain extreme words “must / can’t / mandatory” but this rule needs to be applied with some logic/knowledge as well. If tomorrow UPSC examiner frames a statement “child aged 1 year cannot vote in the election of President” → then it does not mean it is a wrong statement just because it contains extreme word “cannot” and number “1 year”!

Polity: Abstract / Political Science Type MCQs

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.37. A constitutional government by definition is a _ _ _ _ .

[a) government by legislature

[b) popular government

[c) Multi party government

[d) Limited government

Difficulty : Medium ?

Type: Theory ?

Factual or Analytical: Analytical

Explanation:

Constitutional Government in	Nation
UK/USA	– Parliamentary supremacy so government by legislature. Option-A seems fitting – But on the other hand, USA’s Presidential form of Government is not fitting this premise. So, Option-A is not fitting.
UAE	They’ve Constitution but half of their MP are elected and half of the members appointed by the Royal families. So, “Popular Government” (=democratically election) is not fully fitting. Option-B is wrong.
China	They’ve Constitution but no ‘multi-party system’. So, Option-C is wrong.

• Hence, due to above contradictory “GLOBAL” examples, we can safely assume that the examiner is talking about the ‘INDIAN PERSPECTIVE ONLY’
• The government in India comprises of the President of India along with his Union Council of Ministers. At the State Level, the government comprises of the Governor assisted by his State Council of Ministers. Even though, the President, the Union Council of Ministers and the State Council of Ministers are elected i.e. they form a popular element, the Governor is nominated by the President of India on the recommendation of the Union Council of Ministers. Hence, there is some element that deviates from the principle of popular government.
• Also, in India there is no compulsion to form a multi-party government. There have been instances in the contemporary times wherein, single party has formed the government with a clear-cut majority.
• Moreover, in India, there is no Parliamentary Supremacy. All the 3 organs of the democracy maintain a system of checks and balances.
• Hence, in India, the constitutional government is a limited government. The powers of the government are limited by means of the Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Part-III of the Indian Constitution, that are essentially given to us against the state actions.

Source:

• No direct source. Proper understanding of the Fundamental Rights and the associated reasonable restrictions along with a proper reading of other parts of the Constitution

---

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.25. In the context of India, which one of the following is the characteristic appropriate for bureaucracy?

[a) An agency widening the scope of parliamentary democracy

[b) An agency for strengthening the structure of federalism

[c) An agency for facilitating political stability and economic growth

[d) An agency for the implementation of public policy

Difficulty : Easy ?

Type: Theory ?

Factual or Analytical: Analytical

Explanation:

• UK is not a federal nation, yet they too have civil servants / bureaucracy. So, #B is not the most appropriate option.
• While bureaucracy can help in economic growth through ease of doing business but “Political stability” is not their mandate. Political stability depends on strength in parliament / Vidhan Sabha. So, #C is not the most appropriate option.
• We are ?50:50 between A or D.
• NCERT political science Class11: Chapter 4: Executive- subtopic: PERMANENT EXECUTIVE: BUREAUCRACY: “It is always possible that a party is defeated in elections and the new government wants to opt for new policies in the place of policies of the previous government. In such a situation, it is the responsibility of the administrative machinery to faithfully and efficiently participate in drafting the policy and in its implementation.”
• Therefore, “D” is mostly appropriate characteristic / function of bureaucracy.

Source:

• NCERT political science Class11: Chapter 4: Executive

---

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.21. A parliamentary system of government is one in which

[a) All political parties in the parliament are represented in the government

[b) The government is responsible to the parliament and can be remove by it

[c) The government is elected by the people and can be removed by them

[d) The government is chosen by the parliament but cannot be removed by it before completion of a fixed term

Difficulty : Easy ?

Type: Theory ?

Factual or Analytical: Factual

Explanation:

• Article 75: The ministers are collectively responsible to the Parliament in general and to the Lok Sabha in particular. The principle of collective responsibility implies that the Lok Sabha can remove the ministry (i.e., council of ministers headed by the prime minister) from office by passing a vote of no confidence.
• So, B is the right choice.

Source:

• LX: Chapter 22: Parliament- Sub-topics: Multifunctional Role of Parliament: Executive Powers and Functions
  (Page 22.31)

International relations (IR) in Prelims-2020

IR MCQs in 2019 and before	IR MCQs in 2020’s Prelim GS Paper
– 3 MCQs in 2019	same
– 2017- a question was asked about nuclear security summit – 2019: India signed nuclear cooperation agreement with _ _ _ nation.	Asked about IAEA supervision over Indian nuclear plants
– 2019: ‘crazy’ Qs from low-profile organisations- UNCAC, UNTOC.	– One such question from low-profile declarations like Alma-Ata Declaration.
– 2019: nothing from military / defense / missiles	– Same

• As such, not much to say about international relations and diplomacy MCQs in prelims 2020, because, hardly three questions are asked.
• Of course they has good number of questions from international economy, import export, but that we have seen in the economy answer key separately. Click me!

IR Strategy for UPSC Prelims & Mains 2021

[accordion] [accordion_item title=”Click me to Expand”]

• (Free download) NCERT Class 12: Political Science – Contemporary World Politics
• Within the International Summit & agreements, focus more on those related to environment and economy (free trade agreements)
• Topic wise previous years mains papers are available in separate article click me
• Pavneet Singh’s book on IR (McGraw-Hill Publication) for the theory and contemporary affairs.
  • Although all chapters are not equally important.
  • First priority to India’s neighbours > UNSC’s 5 Members > Important allies like Japan, Australia etc.
• Anyone newspaper- the Hindu or Indian express.
  • Although there is no need to make notes out of it. Reasons are explained in this article
  • secondly you don’t have to read each and every column published on international relations and every time because after a while they tend to become repetitive.
  • So the moment you are confident that you have some 5 to 7 good points to fill up to 250 words answer then you move to some other subject. कुछ लोग पूरा दिन इसको लेकर बैठे रहते हैं, my suggestion to all of them is आप लोग खुद से ही ₹100 का judicial stamppaper खरीद ले और उस पर खुद से लिख दो “I am going to fail in UPSC”
• FREE Monthly current affairs PDFs (CA-PDF).
  • However, these monthly current affairs PDFs tend to focus too much on international reports and rankings
  • but beyond a point, it gives poor cost benefit. So invest your time wisely.
• Overrated useless products:
  • in/ and Rajyasabha TV debates’ utility is overrated. Because if you understand all the nuances of India’s foreign policy you will not be given sufficient time or space to elaborate all of that within 150-250 words.
• ✋Each year, IR is about 40-50 marks out of total 250 marks. That means 20% of the GS Mains paper 2. You should not be spending 80% of the time chasing that thing. (This is a very very bad habit among the fresh aspirants and 9/10 cases whoever is failing, it is because of this reason only. वह entire day India-China Doklam-Doklam करते रहते हैं, as if UPSC is not going to ask anything other than that, single topic! जैसे की परीक्षा में उसके अलावा कुछ पूछे जाने वाला है नहीं!)
• ✋Even if you are planning to keep Indian Foreign Service (IFS) as your first preference → still, the UPSC interview panel is not going to grill you continuously for 30-45 minutes on only the questions related to Foreign Affairs. They’ll also ask you about DAF form, hobbies, graduation, Home state ke local issues etc. So, DONOT try to become a Foreign policy researcher/scholar at this stage.

[/accordion_item] [/accordion]

IR/Defense (3 MCQs)

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.40. Consider the following pairs:

1. Alma-Ata Declaration: Healthcare of the people
2. Hague Convention: Biological and chemical weapons
3. Talanoa Dialogue: Global climate change
4. Under2 Coalition: Child rights

Which of the pairs given above is/ are correctly matched?

[a) 1 and 2 only

[b) 4 only

[c) 1 and 3 only

[d) 2, 3 and 4 only

Difficulty : Tough ? to memorise these many low-profile declarations.

Type: Contemporary ?

Explanation:

Year	Organisation	Declaration	Objective
1978	WHO	Alma-Ata Declaration (Kazakhstan)	Healthcare of the People. It was in news in 2018, because 40 years were completed.
1980	Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH)	Hague Convention, Netherlands	International Child Abduction. Mainly related to custody of child after divorce of parents living in two different countries. It was in news during 2018 – 19, because India had not signed it.
2017	UNCCC	Talanoa Dialogue	to help countries with Nationally Determined Contributions in Paris climate change agreement
2015	Coalition of subnational governments (e.g. State Government of California, USA)	Under2 Coalition	Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emission

Source:

• Searched from online newspapers- mostly of 2018? (D-2)

---

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.75. In which one of the following groups are all the four countries members of G20 ?

[a) Argentina, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey

[b) Australia, Canada, Malaysia and New Zealand

[c) Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam

[d) Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea

Difficulty : Tough ? because if you go by logical-elimination / guesswork that G20’s Osaka Summit (2019) was held in Japan so answer should be D= wrong answer.

Type: Contemporary ?

Factual or Analytical: Factual

Explanation:

---

(Pre’20-SetB) Q.85. In India, why are some nuclear reactors kept under “IAEA Safeguards” while others are not ?

[a) Some use uranium and others use thorium

[b) Some use imported uranium and others use domestic supplies

[c) Some are operated by foreign enterprises and others are operated by domestic enterprises

[d) Some are State-owned and others are privately-owned

Difficulty : Tough ? While routine prep sources mention that Indian military reactors are outside IAEA’s scope but the specified information asked in above MCQ is not directly given in routine sources.

Type: Contemporary ?

Explanation:

• FDI is prohibited in atomic energy in India. So, option #C is wrong.
• NCERT class XI economy: chapter 3 LPG an appraisal: “The only industries which are now reserved for the public sector are defense equipment, atomic energy generation and railway transport.” So, option #D is wrong.
  • [Of course, in the later years, government has permitted the entry of private sector in the defense production as well as railway transportation, but still in atomic energy private participation is not allowed.]
  • Presently two Central Public Sector Enterprises viz. Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI) are involved in nuclear power generation
• So, now We are ?50:50 between A or B. Now, As per 2019’s Economic Times Article:
  • As per the India-US Civilian Nuclear Deal (2005), India can maintain 2-types of nuclear reactors. Certain reactors, in which we are using the domestic fuel, India can keep them outside the purview of IAEA.
  • However, the reactors in which we are using imported fuel, they will be mandatorily under the IAEA inspection.
  • There are at present 22 operational reactors, of which 14 are under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards as these use imported fuel. Therefore option B is correct

Source:

• Searched from online newspapers ?

Answerkey Assistance provided by Mudit Gupta

• Mudit Gupta is a faculty for UPSC Civil services exam. He has been teaching Polity, International Relations, Modern History and Current Affairs for the last four years.
• His Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/muditgupta
• His Unacademy Plus Courses available at https://learn.unacademy.com/@MuditGupta and Use Coupon Code “Mrunal.org” for extra discount!
• Stay Tuned for the Detailed Answerkeys with Explanations at Mrunal.org/prelims